Electrical connector having improved grounding terminals

ABSTRACT

A male connector ( 10 ) includes first and second individual housing portions ( 28, 30 ) engaging with each other, a number of printed substrates ( 16 ) held by the first housing portion and a number of signal contacts ( 18 ) and a number of grounding terminals ( 20 ) held by the second housing portion with the signal contacts confronting the grounding terminals. Each printed substrate has a first edge ( 108 ) and a second edge ( 110 ) orthogonal with the first edge. The first edges of the printed substrates are hidden behind corresponding lead-in bars ( 44 ) of the first housing portion and the second edges of the printed substrates are sandwiched between and floatingly held by the signal contacts and the grounding terminals. The second edges are pushed toward the signal contacts because the grounding terminals are somewhat stronger than the signal contacts. A female connector ( 12 ) mateable with the male connector includes a dielectric member ( 22 ) and a number of signal contacts ( 24 ) and a number of grounding terminals ( 26 ) retained in the dielectric member in face-to-face relationship. The signal contacts straddle on a bottom surface ( 128 ) of the dielectric member. The male and the female connectors have a guiding means for guiding the connectors to correctly mate with each other.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This patent application is a continued-in-part (CIP) applicationof patent application Ser. No. 09/746,088, filed on Dec. 21, 2000, and aCo-pending Application of patent application Ser. No. unknown, entitled“ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR HAVING PRINTED SUBSTRATES THEREIN ELECTRICALLYCONTACTING CONDUCTIVE CONTACTS THEREOF BY SOLDERLESS”, invented by thesame inventors as this patent application; Ser. No. unknown, entitled“ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR ASSEMBLY HAVING IMPROVED GUIDING MEANS”, inventedby the same inventors as this patent application; and Ser. No. unknown,entitled “ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR HAVING IMPROVED CONTACTS”, invented byTimothy Brain Billman, all assigned to the same assignee and filed onthe same date with this application. U.S. Pat. No. 6,375,508 is alsorelated hereto.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The invention relates to a connector, and particularly to anelectrical connector having grounding terminals securely assembled to aninsulative member of the connector and reliably engage with elements ofa mating connector.

[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0005] Fleck Research, the worldwide leader in information technologyand market intelligence, announced an article, entitled “A View from theBackplane”, on Jan. 07, 2002 at the website,http://wwwfleckresearch.com/news/en_(—)99-10-18.htm. This articleintroduced some backplane connectors, for example, Teradyne and Molex'sHDM (High Density Metric) family of 2.0 mm connectors, FCI's (Berg)Metral HB connectors, FCI's new HMHS (Hard Metric High Speed) connectorand AMP's Z-PACK HS3 connector. These connectors have common features ofhigh-density, high-speed and strict demand for impedance and crosstalkcontrol.

[0006] U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,171,115 and 6,267,604, both issued to TycoElectronics Corporation, each disclose a backplane connector including adielectric housing and a plurality of circuit boards held in thehousing. The housing includes a front housing and an organizer engagingwith the front housing. Each circuit board provides a plurality ofconductive tracks extending from a mating interface thereof to amounting edge thereof. The mating interface extends beyond the fronthousing to mate with a mating connector. The mounting edge is securedwith conductive terminals by soldering before the mounting edge and theterminals are inserted in slots of the organizer. U.S. Pat. No.6,083,047, issued to Berg Technology, Inc., discloses an alternatebackplane connector including a connector body of dielectric materialand a plurality of integrated PCB modules arranged parallel,side-by-side inserted to the connector body. Each PCB module includes apair of substrates, a plurality of terminals soldered onto an innersurface of each substrate and an insulating spacer sandwiched betweenthe inner surfaces of the substrates. U.S. Pat. No. 6,168,469, issued toHon Hai Precision Ind. Co., Ltd. discloses a similar backplane connectorthat the contacts are soldered to printed circuit boards. Theseconnectors have several disadvantages. First, it requires a step ofsoldering the contacts to the substrates by Surface Mounting Technology(SMT). The SMT requires expensive machine, thereby increasing themanufacturing cost of the connectors. Second, when the substrates, whichare originally designed for signal transmission are required to bereplaced by substrates for power transmission, the substrates togetherwith the contacts must be discarded. This is not economy. Third, thereis no means for guiding contacts of a mating connector to engage withthe mating surface of the substrates. Therefore, there is a disadvantagethat noble metal plated on contacting portions of the signal contactsmay wear off due to their wiping action against the corners of the edgeof the substrate.

[0007] U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,293,827 and 6,174,202, both issued to TeradyneInc., U.S. Pat. No. 6,343,955, issued to Berg Technology Inc., and U.S.Pat. No. 6,299,484, issued to Framatome Connectors International (FCI),each disclose a backplane connector having a plurality of contactsstamped and formed from metal ribs. Each contact has a mating end forengaging with a contact of a mating connector and a mounting end formounting to a mother board. These contacts are relatively long andmanufactured costly.

[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,321, issued to Teradyne Inc., and U.S. Pat.No. 6,220,896, issued to Berg technology Inc., each disclose a backplaneconnector including a plate between every two rows of signal contacts.One of the disadvantages of these backplane connectors is that thegrounding plate has no spring arm for reliably contacting acorresponding grounding element of a mating connector. So, disconnectionmay happen between the grounding plate of this backplane connector andthe grounding element of the mating connector. Hence, an improvedelectrical connector is required to overcome the disadvantages of theprior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] An objective of the present invention is to provide an electricalconnector having a plurality of grounding terminals which can besecurely attached to an insulative member of the electrical connectorand can be reliably engage with grounding elements of a matingconnector.

[0010] To obtain the above objective, an electrical connector assemblycomprises a male connector mountable to a first printed circuit board, afemale connector mountable to a second printed circuit board and aguiding means for guiding the male connector to mate with the femaleconnector correctly. The male connector includes first and secondindividual housing portions engageable with each other, a plurality ofsubstrates held between the first and the second housing portions and aplurality of signal contacts and a plurality of grounding terminalsattached to the second housing portion in face-to-face relationship.Each substrate has a plurality of first conductive pads adjacent a firstedge thereof and a plurality of second conductive pads adjacent a secondedge thereof which is orthogonal with the first edge. The first housingportion provides a plurality of wedge-shaped lead-in bars in front ofthe substrates for guiding contacts of the female connector to contactcorresponding first conductive pads of the substrates. The second edgesof the substrates extend out of the first housing portion into thesecond housing portion to be removeably sandwiched between correspondsignal contacts and corresponding grounding terminals.

[0011] The female connector includes a dielectric member having aplurality of elongate wafers and defining a channel between every twoadjacent wafers, a plurality of signal contacts and a plurality ofgrounding terminals received in the channels with each groundingterminal confronting several signal contacts. Each grounding terminalhas four retention latches and eight contacting arms at one side thereofand five tail portions at an opposite side thereof. The contacting armsare arranged in four pairs and in each pair there is a retention latch.Each retention latch has a cap portion at a top end thereof attached tothe dielectric member, thereby securely retaining the groundingterminals to the dielectric member. The contacting arms are configuredto engage with grounding elements of the male connector while the tailportions are configured to electrically contact corresponding conductivepads on the second printed circuit board. In a preferred embodiment, thecontacting arms of the grounding terminals are somewhat stronger thanthe contacting portions of the signal contacts, so that the substratesof the male connector sandwiched by the contacting arms of the groundingmembers and the contacting portions of the signal contacts of the femaleconnector are pushed by the contacting arms toward the contactingportions to reliably achieve an electrical connection between thecontacting portions of the signal contacts of the female connector andthe second conductive pads of the substrates of the male connector.Retention portions of the signal contacts each define a slot such thatthe retention portions may straddle upon corresponding protrusions on abottom surface of the dielectric member.

[0012] The guiding means includes a pair of frames, which define achamber between each frame and an outmost lead-in bar of the firsthousing portion, at opposite ends of the first housing portion and apair of guiding posts at opposite ends of the dielectric member. Theguiding posts are received in corresponding chambers before the firsthousing portion engages with the dielectric member for guiding the maleconnector to mate with the female connector. Each frame provides twoguiding keys unsymmetrically located in an inner surface thereof andeach guiding post defines two guiding cuts in accordance with theguiding keys. The male connector can only mate with the female connectorwhen the guiding keys are accommodated by corresponding guiding cuts,thereby providing a function to prevent the two connectors fromerroneously mating with each other.

[0013] Other objects, advantages and novel features of the inventionwill become more apparent from the following detailed description of thepresent embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014]FIG. 1 is an assembled perspective view of a male connector and afemale connector respectively mounted onto a first and a second printedcircuit boards (PCBs);

[0015]FIG. 2 is a front-top perspective view of the male connectormounted on the first PCB;

[0016]FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of first and second housingportions of the male connector;

[0017]FIGS. 4A and 4B are enlarged sections of FIG. 3;

[0018]FIG. 5 is a rear-top perspective view of the first housing portionin FIG. 3;

[0019] FIGS. 6A-6C are enlarged perspective views of signal contacts ofthe male connector in three embodiments;

[0020]FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of a grounding terminal ofthe male connector;

[0021] FIGS. 8A-8B are opposite perspective views of a substrate of themale connector;

[0022]FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a section of the secondhousing portion and the substrates attached to the second housingportion;

[0023]FIG. 10 is a top-front perspective view of the female connectormounted on the second PCB;

[0024] FIGS. 11A-11B are enlarged top and bottom perspective views of asection of the female connector in FIG. 10;

[0025]FIG. 12 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a section of theassembly of the male and the female connectors;

[0026] FIGS. 13A-13B are perspective views of the assembly of the maleand female connectors taken from different perspectives, wherein thehousings are removed to clearly show the engagement of the substrateswith the signal contacts and the grounding terminals; and

[0027]FIG. 14 is a top planar view of a PCB of an alternative embodimentof this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0028] Referring to FIGS. 1-3, 6A-8B and 10, an electrical connectorassembly 1 of the present invention includes a male connector 10 mountedon a first printed circuit board (PCB) 3 and a female connector 12mounted on a second PCB 5. The male connector 10 includes an insulativehousing 14, a plurality of substrates 16 and a plurality of signalcontacts 18 and grounding terminals 20 received in the housing 14. Thefemale connector 12 includes an insulative housing 22, a plurality ofsignal contacts 24 and grounding terminals 26 received in the housing22.

[0029] Referring to FIGS. 3-9, the housing 14 includes first and secondindividual housing portions 28, 30 engageable with each other. The firsthousing portion 28 has a front surface 32 for mating with the femaleconnector 12, a rear surface 34 and a lower surface 36 in orthogonalwith the rear surface 34. The first housing portion 28 defines aplurality of passageways 38 through the rear surface 34, the lowersurface 36 and terminating at the front surface 32. The first housingportion 28 provides a row of blocks 40 on a top section of the rearsurface 34 and two guiding ribs 42 near opposite ends of the row ofblocks 40. The guiding ribs 42 downwardly extend throughout the heightof the rear surface 34 for guiding the first housing portion 28 toaccurately engage with the second housing portion 30. The first housingportion 28 further provides a plurality of lead-in bars 44 near thefront surface 32. Each lead-in bar 44 is wedge-shaped in cross-sectionfor facilitating mating with the female connector 12. Each lead-in bar44 provides three branches 46 rearwardly extending into a correspondingpassageway 38 for securing the substrates 16 in the passageways 38 ofthe first housing portion 28, respectively. The first housing portion 28again defines a row of notches 48 (FIG. 5) in a middle surface 50thereof between and parallel with the front and the rear surfaces 32, 34for purpose disclosed in detail below.

[0030] The second housing portion 30 has a generally sofa-like shape,and includes a rectangular base portion 52 defining a plurality ofchannels 54 in an upper surface 56 thereof, a backrest portion 58upwardly extending from a rear edge of the upper surface 56 of the baseportion 52 and two elongate stand-offs 60 depending on front and rearedges of a bottom surface 62 of the base portion 52. Between every twonear channels 54 there is an elongate wafer 64 which defines fourrecesses 66 in the upper surface 56 and provides an embossment 68 ineach recess 66. The base portion 52 provides a row of blocks 70 on afront face 72 thereof for being engageably received in correspondingnotches 48 of the first housing portion 28. The backrest portion 58defines a row of notches 74 in a top end 76 thereof for engageablyreceiving corresponding blocks 40 and two guiding tracks 78 at oppositeside portions 80 thereof for receiving the guiding ribs 42 of the firsthousing portion 28.

[0031] The signal contact 18 includes a contacting portion 82 for matingwith the substrate 16 and a tail portion 84 for mating with the firstPCB 3. The contacting portion 82 offsets a predetermined distance fromthe tail portion 84 in a traverse direction of the signal contact 18(FIG. 9). The tail portion 84 is a press-fit tail for engageablyinserting into a corresponding plated hole 86 of the first PCB 3. Asignal contact 18′ according to a second embodiment has an inclined tailportion 84′ for pressing against a corresponding conductive pad 88 of afirst PCB 3′ according to a second embodiment (FIG. 14) of the presentinvention. A signal contact 18″ according to a third embodiment of thepresent invention includes a contacting portion 82″ having two springarms 90, a press-fit tail portion 84″ and an inclined retention portion92 between the contacting portion 82″ and the tail portion 84″. Theretention portion 92 defines a slot 94 and has a bearing surface 95 sothat it may straddle upon a protrusion on a bottom surface of the secondhousing portion 30, which is not clearly shown in the drawings but maybe known by referring to the female connector 12 as is shown in FIG.11B.

[0032] The grounding terminal 20 includes an elongate base portion 96,five press-fit tail portions 98 downwardly extending from a lower sideof the base portion 96 and four retention latches 100 and eightcontacting arms 102 upwardly extending from an upper side of the baseportion 96. Beside opposite sides of each retention latch 100, there aretwo contacting arms 102. Each retention latch 100 is generally 7-shapedand has a cap portion 104 at a top end thereof. The cap portion 104defines an opening 106 for receiving a corresponding embossment 68 ofthe second housing portion 30. The substrate 16 provides a first row offirst gold fingers 112 on opposite surfaces near a first edge 108thereof, a second row of second gold fingers 114 on the oppositesurfaces near a second edge 110 thereof and a plurality of traces 116connecting the first gold fingers 112 to corresponding second goldfingers 114. The first row is perpendicular to the second row. Thesubstrate 116 defines three grooves 118 in the first edge 108 forengageably receiving corresponding branches 46 of a correspondinglead-in bar 44.

[0033] Upon the assembling of the male connector 10, the substrates 16are inserted into corresponding passageways 38 of the first housingportion 28 from the rear surface 34 toward the front surface 32. Thefirst edge 108 of each substrate 16 is hidden behind a correspondinglead-in bar 44 with the grooves 118 thereof engageably receivingcorresponding branches 46. The second edge 110 of each substrate 16partially extends downwardly beyond the lower surface 36 with the secondgold fingers 114 exposing out of the first housing portion 28. Thesignal contacts 18 and the grounding terminals 20 are inserted intocorresponding channels 54 of the second housing portion 30 with eightsignal contacts 18 lying in one side of the channel 54 and one groundingterminal 20 lying in an opposite side of the channel 54 such that thesignal contacts 18 confront the grounding terminal 20. The cap portion104 of the grounding terminal 20 is received in a corresponding recess66 with the opening 106 thereof fixedly receiving a correspondingembossment 68, thereby attaching the grounding terminals 20 to the firsthousing portion 28. The first housing portion 28 together with thesubstrates 16 are then assembled to the second housing portion 30 suchthat the second edges 110 of the substrates 16 are received incorresponding channels 54 of the second housing portion 30. Thecontacting portions 82 of the signal contacts 18 and the contacting arms102 of the grounding terminals 20 wipe along and electrically contactcorresponding second gold fingers 114 of the substrates 16. The secondedge 110 of the substrate 16 is sandwiched between the contactingportions 82 of the signal contacts 18 and the contacting arms 102 of thegrounding terminal 20. The contacting arms 102 are somewhat strongerthan the contacting portions 82 such that the second edge 110 is pushedby the contacting arms 102 toward the contacting portions 82 to ensureelectrical connections between the second gold fingers 114 and thecontacting portions 82 of the signal contacts 18 (FIG. 9 and FIGS.13A-13B).

[0034] Referring to FIGS. 10, 11A and 11B, the housing 22 of the femaleconnector 12 provides a plurality of elongate wafers 120 and defines aplurality of channels 122 each between two near wafers 120. Each channel122 receives eight signal contacts 24 and a grounding terminal 26 atopposite sides thereof. The signal contact 24 and the grounding terminal26 of the female connector 12 are respectively similar to the signalcontact 18 and the grounding terminal 20 of the male connector 10 instructure but different in dimensions. The signal contact of the femaleconnector 12 may have three different constructions, designatedrespectively by 24, 24′ 24″, in accordance with the three constructionsof the signal contact 18, 18′, 18″ of the male connector 10. The housing22 provides a pair of elongate stand-offs 124 and a pair of guidingpoles 126 (only one is shown in FIG. 11B) on a bottom surface 128thereof. The housing 22 further provides a plurality of protrusions 130on the bottom surface 128. The signal contact 24 includes an inclinedretention portion 132 having a pair of ribs 134 and defining a slot 136between the ribs 134. The retention portion 132 straddles on theprotrusion 130 with the ribs 134 engageably sandwiching the protrusion130 and a bearing surface 135 thereof bears against a tip of theprotrusion 130, thereby preventing the signal contact 24 from movinginto the housing 22 when the female connector 12 is mounted onto thesecond printed circuit board 5. This design can also be applied to themale connector 3.

[0035] Referring to FIGS. 12 and 13A, 13B, when the male connector 10mates with the female connector 12, the wedged lead-in bars 44 of themale connector 10 push the contacting portions of corresponding signalcontacts 24 and the contacting arms of corresponding grounding terminals26 to move away from each other so that they may smoothly slide toelectrically contact corresponding first gold fingers 112 without wipingagainst corners of the first edges 108 of the substrates 16. Therefore,a disadvantage that noble metal plated on the contacting portions 82 ofthe signal contacts may wear off due to their wiping action against thecorners of the edge of the substrate 16 can be prevented in the presentinvention. The tail portions 84, 98 of the signal contacts 18 and tailportions (not labeled) of the grounding terminals 20 of the maleconnector 10 arranged in a same row are inserted into a same row ofplated holes 86 of the first PCB 3. So does the female connector 12.

[0036] Referring to FIG. 14, in accordance with the signal contacts 18′of the second embodiment, the first PCB 3′ of the second embodimentprovides five rows of plated through-holes 86′ and four pairs of rows ofconductive pads 88, each pair being located between every two near rowsof plated through-holes 86′. When the male connector 10 is mounted ontothe first PCB 3′, the tail portions 98 are received in correspondingthrough-holes 86′ by press-fit while the tail portions 84′ of the signalcontacts 18′ electrically contact corresponding conductive pads 88 by adepressing force acting on the tail portions 84′.

[0037] As is shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 10, the connector assembly 1includes a pair of guiding means 138 at opposite sides thereof forguiding the male connector 10 to correctly mate with the femaleconnector 12. Each guiding means 138 includes a frame 140 at each sideof the first housing portion 28 and a chamber 142 between the frame 140and an near lead-in bar 44. The frame 140 provides two guiding keys 144located on an inner surface 146 thereof and extending in a front-to-reardirection. Each guiding means 138 also includes a guiding post 148 ateach side of the housing 22 with a wedged top portion 150 extendingbeyond a top face of the housing 22. The guiding post 148 defines twoguiding cuts 152 unsymmetrically in an outer surface 154 thereof,located corresponding to the guiding keys 144. When the male connector10 mates with the female connector 12, the wedged top portions 150 arefirst inserted into corresponding chambers 142 and the guiding keys 144are received in corresponding guiding cuts 152 before the lead-in bars44 touch the housing 22, the signal contacts 24 and the groundingterminals 26. When the guiding posts 148 are wholly received in thecorresponding chambers 142, the male connector 10 securely mates withthe female connector 12.

[0038] Comparing with the prior arts, this invention has a lot ofadvantages. First, since the substrates 16 are removeably held in thefirst housing portion 28, it is very convenient to replace any one ofthe substrates 16 with other device for a different function, forexample, for transmitting power. When selected substrates are replacedby other devices for transmitting power, corresponding signal contactsand/or grounding terminals of the male and the female connectors 10, 12are correspondingly used to transmit power. Second, since the firstedges 108 of the substrates 16 are covered by the lead-in bars 44,plated noble metal on the contacting portions 82 of the signal contacts18 can obtain a better protection against wearing. Third, the elongategrounding terminals 20 each are attached to the second housing portion30 by four retention latches 100, the grounding terminals 20 can besecurely attached to the second housing portion 30. Fourth, since thesubstrates 16 are pushed by the grounding terminals 20 toward the signalcontacts 18, secure electrical connections are established between theconductive pads 114 and the contacting portions 82 of the signalcontacts 18.

[0039] It is to be understood, however, that even though numerouscharacteristics and advantages of the present invention have been setforth in the foregoing description, together with details of thestructure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrativeonly, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape,size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention tothe full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms inwhich the appended claims are expressed.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electrical connector comprising: a dielectrichousing member having a mating portion adapted for confronting a matingdevice and a mounting portion adapted for confronting a printed circuitboard (PCB); a conductive signal contact assembled to the housing memberadapted for engaging with a signal trace of the mating device; and aconductive grounding terminal assembled to the housing member, thegrounding terminal including at least one retention latch having a firstend fixedly attached to the mating portion of the housing member and atleast one contacting arm beside the at least one retention latch, the atleast one contacting arm being deflectable adapted for electricallycontacting a conductive grounding element of the mating device.
 2. Theelectrical connector as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least oneretention latch is generally 7-shaped and has a cap portion at the firstend thereof.
 3. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 2, whereinthe cap portion defines an opening and the mating portion of the housingmember provides an embossment engageably received in the opening of thecap portion.
 4. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 3, whereinthe grounding terminal includes at least one tail portion extending in adirection away from the at least one contacting arm thereof for mountingto the PCB.
 5. The electrical connector as claimed in claim 4, whereinthe grounding terminal includes a pair of contacting arms besideopposite sides of the at least one retention latch.
 6. The electricalconnector as claimed in claim 4, wherein the grounding terminal includesfour retention latches parallelly extending from an elongate baseportion thereof in a predetermined direction, four pairs of contactingarms with each pair being located beside opposite sides of acorresponding retention latch, and five tail portions parallellyextending from the elongate base portion in a direction away from thecontacting arms.
 7. A conductive terminal for an electrical connectorcomprising: an elongate base portion; at least one retention latchextending from the base portion in a predetermined direction, the atleast one retention latch being generally 7-shaped and having a capportion at a free end thereof, the cap portion defining an openingadapted for engageably attaching to an insulative member of theelectrical connector; at least one contacting arm extending from thebase portion and located beside the at least one retention latch, the atleast one contacting arm having a contacting end distant from the baseportion adapted for electrically contacting a conductive element of amating electrical connector; and at least one tail portion extendingfrom the base portion in a direction away from the at least onecontacting arm for mounting to a conductive element of a printed circuitboard.
 8. The conductive terminal as claimed in claim 7 being stampedand formed from a metal sheet.
 9. The conductive terminal as claimed inclaim 7 comprising a pair of contacting arms beside opposite sides ofthe at least one retention latch.
 10. The conductive terminal as claimedin claim 7 comprising four retention latches parallelly extending fromthe base portion, four pairs of contacting arms with each pair beinglocated beside opposite sides of a corresponding retention latch, andfive tail portions parallelly extending from the base portion in thedirection away from the contacting arms.
 11. An electrical connector,comprising: a dielectric housing having a first end adapted for engagingwith a complementary connector, a second end opposite the first endadapted for engaging with a printed circuit board and at least a channelbetween the first and the second ends; a signal contact received in afirst side of the channel; and a grounding terminal received in a secondside of the channel opposite the first side, the grounding terminalhaving a base portion, a retention latch extending from the base portionand securely engaging with the first end of the housing, a contactingarm extending from the base portion adapted for electrically engagingwith the complementary connector, and a tail portion extending from thebase portion adapted for engaging with the printed circuit board. 12.The electrical connector as claimed in claim 11, wherein the retentionlatch defines an opening and the first end of the housing provides anembossment engageably received in the opening of the retention latch.